


The Guide to Gemlings

by Rycalla



Series: Fire and Ice (and other assorted gemlings) [2]
Category: Steven Universe - Fandom
Genre: Gem Egg Hell, Gemlings, Guide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:28:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22025587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rycalla/pseuds/Rycalla
Summary: Peridot and Lapis's informative booklet on the creation and care of gemlings, with their test subjects Ruby and Sapphire and with help from Amethyst.Follows Fire and Ice arc.
Series: Fire and Ice (and other assorted gemlings) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1617934
Comments: 3
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

The guide to Gemlings 

Compiled painstakingly by Peridot Facet 2F5L Cut 5XG and Lapis Lazuli.

With assistance from Ruby and Sapphire, cuts unknown

And Amethyst Facet 5 Cut 8XM

With the arrival of Era 3 our lives have changed. A practice banned since late Era 1 has been reinstated with the ceasing of the use of kindergartens due to lack of resources and talks between Steven Universe and the glorious Diamonds. Since few gems know much of this we have been asked to compile all we know to distribute to interested parties.

Natural Reproduction Amongst Two Gems:

Most gems are capable of natural reproduction, but during Era 2 the practice was banned completely except in special cases with permission from the Diamonds. Any gem caught disobeying this rule was punished, generally by shattering, unless it was too valuable of a gem, such as a sapphire. Any resulting gemlings were shattered as well.

In the rare cases a regulation breeding took place, the gems involved were always the same type. Our sapphire subject tells us one of her kindergarten-mates was once used for breeding, but she doesn’t know what happened with her after Blue Diamond put the gemlings under the care of one of her own peridots.

Now, with dwindling resources and no new colonies to build kindergartens, in order to make new gems, we must create them ourselves.

XX

The Creation and Care of Gemlings

Recently, we decided to have our own gemlings. Though we are different gem types we wanted to see if it was possible. We conceived two peridots and three lapises, though only one of the peridots and two lapises hatched. And then a ruby and sapphire friend of ours had their own litter. We discovered a few things this way.

1: In order to conceive gemlings, both parents must be in heat at the same time. This can happen naturally or there are ways to force oneself into heat using certain chemicals which is how we did it. Fusion components always come into heat at the same time.

2: One of the gems must be the carrier, and the other the sire. They must shapeshift corresponding reproductive organs, and the gem that chose the female organs (ovaries and a womb) is the carrier and may then form unfertilized eggs and the other must shift male genitalia (a penis and testicles, specifically) and engage in intercourse with her.

3: It is rumoured that in some cases, both gems can form eggs and become pregnant. This occurs when they have mated, but the eggs have not yet been fertilized, and they swap organs and mate the other way around. Amethyst 8XM has explained two of her kind claimed they did that once, though she’s not sure if it’s true or not since amethysts are gregarious and engage in orgies, so it’s possible there was a third amethyst involved.

4: Once fertilized, the eggs (or geodes as they’re also known as) will begin to develop inside the carrier. If unfertilized, the carrier will lay them and must figure out what to do with the lifeless husks. A jasper we knew would consume hers, but we buried ours. 

5: Developing gemlings require an immense amount of energy from their carrier. She cannot use any of her powers, and must eat and sleep to sustain the eggs. If she does not, she will lose the clutch. If she uses her powers it can disconnect them from the eggs and shatter them as well

6: In addition to eating, the right minerals must be consumed. For a gem type such as corundum, the main mineral would be aluminum. For a quartz like an amethyst or jasper, it would be silicon. In our case there were multiple minerals needed because we’re a lapis and a peridot and are two totally different breeds of gem.

7: Once the eggs have developed enough, they will be laid by the carrier, much like an Earth bird. Clutch sizes and gestation periods vary by gem type. I will provide a chart for what I know. There are many other kinds of gems I have little information about. 

Ruby: 6-12 gemlings, 5 months  
Sapphire: 2-5 gemlings, 5 months  
Lapis Lazuli: 4-7 gemlings, 6 months  
Peridot: 4-6 gemlings, 5 months  
Quartz (all types with the exception of agates): 1-2 gemlings, 11 months (One of the reasons we started using the kindergartens in the first place)  
Agate: 2-4 gemlings, 11 months  
Pearl: 3-8 gemlings, 8 months  
Aquamarine: 6-14 gemlings, 5 months

That is just average size; some may have more or less. Our jasper had 3 unfertilized eggs once (that’s how we found out she’d eat them). The record I’ve heard of was an aquamarine on Homeworld who had 14 gemlings. Luckily for them this was a Diamond-sanctioned breeding so nobody got shattered. Almost all geodes take a month to hatch once laid, and, with the exception of sapphires, they must be warmed by one of the parents during this time or they will freeze to death.

8: DO NOT FUSE WHILE CARRYING. We can’t stress this enough! Our ruby and sapphire friends told us of a litter the ruby was carrying and the corundums decided to fuse. The act of fusing takes immense energy and will cut off the connection from carrier and gemlings and will shatter the developing eggs instantly. Also, a fusion attempting to be a carrier will not produce viable eggs, but a fusion as a sire may be able to fertilize them. Whether or not a born fusion like one of the gemlings of the ruby and sapphire is can carry is unknown.

9: The kinds of gemlings born are determined by the type of the carrier and sire. In the case of our ruby and sapphire, there were 2 rubies, 2 sapphires, and a fusion known as a “garnet”. Though we only had lapises and peridots, a fusion would’ve been possible. There was an amethyst gemling recently too, but she was pureblood (meaning both parents were the same kind of gem) so that’s all she could’ve been. Sometimes there will be twins, two gemlings from one egg, but they’re generally identical, although that is not always the case as we learned from the ruby and sapphire that hatched from the same egg. Also, gems have been known to have gemlings of the same gem type but of different colours than their parents. Our sapphire is blue, but one of her sapphire gemlings is pink.

10: Mixed-blood gemlings like ours and the ruby/sapphire gemlings can produce gems from either of their parent’s types. If one of the rubies from the ruby and sapphire litter were to grow up and mate with any other gem, she could have a sapphire even if the mate is not a sapphire. 

11: Gemlings require nutrition for the first few years of their lives. Mostly this is provided by the carrier. Sometime during her pregnancy, generally a few days before she lays, her breasts will produce milk, much like a mammal. This is special and contains more of the minerals she took on to carry the gemlings, so she needs to continue to consume the minerals though she doesn’t need to sleep or eat otherwise anymore. The sire can also choose to shapeshift enough to lactate. Amethyst 8XM and her sisters all feed the pureblood amethyst gemling.

12: If a gem is poofed while she is pregnant she will lose the litter. Simple as that.

13: Laying eggs is extremely taxing on the carrier. It is extremely painful and may cause her permanent damage. Our sapphire was so hurt she poofed right after laying. Also, there may be cases where eggs are too large to lay or are coming sideways and cannot be laid normally. Once again, the sapphire. She carried an extremely large garnet egg which she couldn’t lay without assistance. If her ruby and our jasper hadn’t helped, she would’ve poofed and lost the three eggs still inside her. In most cases like this, the egg must be broken. This will likely kill the still—developing gemling, but it will save the rest. 

14: At birth, most gemlings are the size of the young of an Earth animal called a cat, except for quartz cubs and fusions which are larger. They are extremely vulnerable and must be handled extremely gently. Their gems are not as hard as their parent’s yet and they shatter more easily. Also, they can die if they are poofed.

15: Gemlings hatch blind and almost immobile. They navigate their world through the sound of their mothers voices, and those that have noses will learn her scent. After about two or three weeks, their eyes will open. They communicate through chirps until they’re about two years old. They can manifest their powers when very young (one of our lapises discovered she could generate wings at two months old, we’re so proud of her! --Lapis)

16: Sometime during the carrier’s pregnancy, the sire of the litter will be compelled to build a nest for her. It is often soft material such as pillows, blankets, or animal fur. This is where the eggs will be laid and where the parents will rest. If the carrier does not like the nest, she will become distressed and will rearrange it herself, but the stress is not good for her or her gemlings.

17: Right before laying, some gems become feral. They don’t recognize anyone, not even their mates and spend all their time in their nest, waiting to lay their eggs. They are extremely dangerous and will viciously attack anyone that comes near, perceiving them to be a threat to them and their brood. This will generally wear off right before the eggs hatch, but it is terrifying. Not all gems do this. Sapphire didn’t, but Lapis did.

18: The eggshells for newly-laid geodes should be brilliantly coloured. The colouration depends on the gemling growing inside, but it should shine. Dull-coloured eggs may not hatch, and if they do the gemlings may be weak. An egg with no shine at all is either dead or was never fertilized.

19: Not all gems can reproduce. Amethyst 8XM cannot conceive because of her size and the fact that she was late and that kindergarten quartz like her were made for fighting so not all of them are fertile, though her sister 8XG is. Quartzes in general have trouble conceiving, but their semen is extremely potent. Quartz sires were prized before the days of the kindergartens (8XM may be able to sire), but they were always paired with other quartzes so it kinda cancelled itself out.

20: Pregnant gems can have unusual emotions and sometimes will seem to not be themselves. Sapphire, for example, yelled a lot more than usual.

21: Pregnant gems may experience much of the same symptoms as human women, such as morning sickness or cramps. She may also tire easily, take her to her nest if this happens, it will make her comfortable.

22: The role of the sire is very important. Most carriers will need them to get them things, and are very uncomfortable if the sire is not around. Sapphire said that she got very upset and didn’t want to move when Ruby was away for even a short while. Sire’s comfort their mates and help incubate and nurture the eggs. Some sires have even been known to nurse the gemlings.

That’s all we can think of for now. We may post another report if we find out more.


	2. Chapter 2

The Guide to Gemlings  
Page 2  
Fusion gemlings:

As I have said before, sometimes gems will have fusion gemlings. Ruby said she had five garnets in her three litters, and Sapphire had one. We’re not sure or not what the capabilities of such gemlings are at the time, since their daughter is the first live fusion gemling in recorded history. Gems used to only be allowed to mate with one of their own kind even before natural reproduction ceased..

The gemling, named Sabby, we assume because she is part sapphire and part ruby, is different than her parents when they fuse. Her colouration contains a bit more blue, and her hair resembles that of a sapphire. We’re unsure about her powers since she has not manifested any yet, but she may have the future sight of her sapphire half. She, unlike her parents, cannot unfuse into two gems. All three of her eyes are the same shade of violet.

I have included a chart here about possible fusion gemlings, because with Era 3 there likely will be more mixed-blood gemlings eventually. These are just basic gems because fusions cannot generally reproduce. There are many, many more, but these are the ones I know. And any of the Rose Quartz fusions we’ve drawn from Steven as our example.

Ruby/Sapphire: Garnet  
Amethyst/Pearl: Opal  
Lapis/Peridot: Turquoise (we only know this because we did it once. It was not a fun experience for Lapis so it won’t happen again)  
Ruby/Pearl: Rhodonite  
Jasper/Lapis: Malachite  
Rose Quartz/Amethyst: Smoky Quartz  
Rose Quartz/Pearl: Rainbow Quartz  
Ruby/Aquamarine: Azurite  
Continuing on from the last report:

23: In almost every litter of gemlings, there will be at least one runt. Much smaller and more delicate than her sisters, her survival chances are not always so good. She must be fed and taken care of foremost if she is to catch up to her sisters, though she will never be as large as them. The sapphire had two of these, a ruby and her pink sapphire, though the sapphire gemling is far weaker than even the ruby. It’s only by the loving care of her parents she survived hatching and we’re unsure if she will live to adulthood but one can hope.

24: Gems come into heat at different intervals depending on the breed and individual. Smaller gems tend to come in more frequently, but it still may be every few years. In order to come into heat simultaneously, temporarily staying fused right before one of the components is expected to go into heat is useful, since fused gems will go into heat at the same time.

25: It can sometimes be difficult to tell if certain gems are in heat. Sapphires and some other gems have no sense of smell and cannot pick up the telltale scents of gems in heat. Once a gem begins going into heat, her gem will warm up and she may pant. In full-on heat she may lose most of her mind.

26: When not wishing to breed gemlings, a gem may alleviate some of the symptoms of her heat through intercourse with another gem, but they must be careful that the partner is not in heat and not to be knotted.

27: Human pregnancy tests do not work on gems. We have begun work on developing one, but it’s not available yet. If you think you’re carrying, just don’t fuse or use your powers until you’re sure you’re not. 

28: Gemlings will move around inside their eggs, and sometimes the eggs will shift around inside the carrier. It shouldn’t cause any discomfort, but it does feel unusual. At least Lapis says so.

29: Gemlings must hatch out on their own. If pulled out of their eggs while hatching they may be injured or killed. Some take a long time, it varies from gemling to gemling.

30: Exposure to gemlings and the pheromones a new one carries can trigger a gem to go into strong heat. When Lapis had ours, it triggered Ruby, Sapphire, and 8XM all at once. Likewise, sometimes just being around multiple gems in strong heat can trigger it.

31: It is hard to tell when a gem is carrying for at least a month. (I knew right away because I used my future sight before I mated with Ruby and saw that I was going to have gemlings –Sapphire). The geodes may not be detected immediately, though the pregnancy symptoms may begin at that point.

32: A gem in heat will have a specific scent. Rubies, for example, smell like bonfires. Lapises smell of rain, and sapphires have a floral scent. It is almost irresistible to a gem of the same type, if one is in the vicinity.

33: In order for conception to occur, the sire must knot inside the carrier. 

34: Larger gems, like large animals, usually don’t have as many gemlings as smaller ones for some reason we haven’t figured out. The worst are quartzes, but bismuths and other such heavy gems will not have many. Small gems are the opposite, sometimes producing huge litters.

35: It is unsure whether or not corrupted gems can reproduce, and whether the litter would be corrupted as well.

36: Gemlings grow at the same rate regardless of type. Within a month of hatching they will have doubled their hatching size. At a year old they should be around the size of human infants unless they are runts which will be a little smaller, or quartz cubs or bismuths which are generally larger. At around two hundred years old they will have reached their adult size and will cease aging like all adult gems.


	3. Page 3: More interesting tidbits about gemlings

The Guide to Gemlings  
Page 3: More Interesting Facts about gemlings

During the course of my research on the subject of gemlings, I have found out many more things than previous entries. There is very little information out there, so most of this is through observation. This is a bunch of other random tidbits (that’s an interesting word, isn’t it?) about gemlings that I have managed to study.

37: Lapis Lazulis generally lay their eggs in a lake or other body of water. They nest near a shore and when the gemlings hatch they swim to the surface and their mother will call to them so they can find her because like all gemlings they are born blind. The water must be warm so the developing gemlings don’t freeze, so Lapises generally time their pregnancies to be able to lay in summer. Lapis used an aquarium for our three lapis gemlings because our pool wasn’t warm enough when she laid the eggs, even though only two of them survived.

38: It is possible to create gemlings through artificial insemination. That’s how Lapis and I did it. It also requires both parents to be in heat, just like the normal process, but I found a chemical that triggers it. It’s a much more pleasant alternative for gems like me who want gemlings but for whatever reason cannot stand the idea of actually having to breed with their partner. Lapis is the only gem I have tried this with, but I am looking into finding willing gem couples to experiment more with.

39: Gemlings hatch without any sexual organs though they, like all gems, always appear female. They probably can shapeshift them, but who would do that? When they reach adolescence at about 100 years old they will start to develop them and have their first heat cycle.

40: Even unfertilized eggs can sometimes be felt within a gem’s form, especially in a quartz. Most gems know if they’ve formed eggs because they can feel them, however it is impossible to tell if they have been fertilized or not until a few weeks after she mates. If she does not lay the egg right after the heat ends, she is pregnant.

41: Sapphires, though ice gems, are actually warm on the inside and it is possible for a Ruby to incubate Sapphire eggs without them overheating. 

42: Through Jasper and a number of Earth gems we know, quartz from the Beta Kindergarten, unlike other quartz, often form more than one egg. Though they are thought to be defective, through studying them this might well prove to be useful in increasing the reproduction rate of all quartz.

43: It seems that formerly-corrupted gems will not pass on their remaining horns or other marks to their gemlings. A few of the formerly-corrupted gems in Little Homeworld have gemlings, and they’re all completely unaffected. I’m still not sure if still-corrupted gems can conceive though and whether or not the eggs would be okay.

44: Gems can switch roles from gemling to gemling. One can carry the one time and sire the next, considering we can act as either male or female when it comes to reproduction. The exception is gems like 8XM that cannot carry.

45: When you’ve got two gems, like Lapis and I, of totally different breeds and sizes, it is wise to have the larger gem of the two be the carrier. I might’ve had trouble laying the three Lapis eggs because they’re larger than Peridot eggs, and we were worried about having a fusion. Ruby and Sapphire are about the same size and are similar breeds gemetically so either one could’ve carried though this particular Ruby is probably barren and lost three litters of eggs before so the carrier had to be the Sapphire. 

46\. A gem that has given birth recently will not be able to form eggs again for some time, but she can come into heat and sire. The time before she can become pregnant again varies from gem to gem. A smaller gem may only need a year or so, but with a larger gem like a quartz or Bismuth, it may take many years.

47\. Gem placement on a gemling is usually determined by the parents, but sometimes there will be gemlings with unusual placements. The Garnet gemling has her gem on her leg; unlike her sisters who like their mothers have theirs in the palm of one of their hands. One of our Lapis gemlings and our Peridot have my gem placement, the other Lapis has her carrier’s gem placement.

48\. Quartz cubs and Sapphires are born with a lot of hair. It must be cleaned carefully when they first hatch because it absorbs a lot of fluid and can stick to them and give them rashes. A mother generally will lick her gemlings obsessively the first few days after they hatch. (I did, even though Lapis and Peridot gemlings don’t have as much hair as some other gems—Lapis)


End file.
